John Boehner has increased federal debt by $1.59 trillion while enjoying the constitutional veto over federal spending given to him in Nov. 2010

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6/3/12, "Onward and Upward," Mark Steyn, National Review Online

"If, as is claimed, President Obama is the tightest tightwad since Ike, you’ll be relieved to hear those throw-granny-off-the-cliff Republicans still like to splash it around:

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which took office in January 2011, has enacted federal spending bills under which the national debt has increased more in less than one term of Congress than in the first 97 Congresses combined.

In the fifteen months that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives–led by Speaker John Boehner–has effectively enjoyed a constitutional veto over federal spending, the federal government’s debt has increased by about $1.59 trillion.

As I always say, debt-per-capita comparisons with Greece or anyone else matter less than the hard-dollar sums. Nobody anywhere on the planet spends this much money that it doesn’t have. And at some point the political institutions of the United States have to demonstrate the capacity for serious course correction. 2010 didn’t do that. If 2012 doesn’t, the world will conclude that America is determined to spend to the end, and make its dispositions accordingly."

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